Every drop counts

Irrigators turn to technology to make every gallon of water count toward yield.

The rest of agriculture could learn a lesson about efficiency from irrigators. They have been challenged to make ends meet going as far back to the 1970s oil embargo that caused their pumping costs to double in one year.

Fuel costs are still a concern. But today's challenge is the huge restrictions in the amount of water irrigators can apply to crops. In some locations of the High Plains, farmers have been cut back to withdrawing as little as 10 to 12 inches of water a year. That would be similar to being restricted to applying no more than 30 pounds of nitrogen on corn a year while trying to raise a 200-bushel crop.

So how are irrigators making water ends meet? By turning to technology. That explains why Roric Paulman's office looks like a NASA control center. With two large computer monitors lined up across his desk, Paulman can monitor every aspect of the 40 wells and center-pivot irrigation systems on his Sutherland, Nebraska, operation. Moreover, he has as much as or more weather data at his fingertips than the local TV station.

Preserving resourcesIn Paulman's area, he says, “We rely on supplemental water to produce a crop.” He notes that the average annual rainfall is somewhere around 20 inches. “Water has become one of the primary inputs as far as cost is concerned. We figure it has the potential to cost $7 to $8 per inch per acre for irrigation,” he says.

But cost is only part of the issue. Equally important is conservation of the resource, as well as preservation of the aquifer and the rural economy, says Paulman, who is also vice president of the Nebraska Water Balance Alliance.

He has turned his farm into a showcase for new irrigation conservation technology. By working with stakeholders like the University of Nebraska, his area's natural resource district office, the local electric cooperatives, and various irrigation, seed and machinery companies, Paulman has already tested and implemented a variety of tools and techniques.

“It's estimated that the use of moisture sensors alone has the potential to save a producer about 2 inches of water, primarily at the first and last waterings,” he says. “That represents a savings of up to $16 per acre. However, if you multiply that 2 inches across all the irrigated acres in the Twin Platte NRD (his natural resource district), that's about 56,000 acre-feet of water that we could keep in the aquifer.

“Part of our goal, beyond finding ways to reduce water use, is to deliver producer models that other farmers can apply,” he adds. “About seven years ago, they designated this area of the Platte River Basin as overappropriated. As a result, the state has increasingly looked at groundwater to carry the burden of offsets.”

One way to do that, Paulman explains, was to require water meters at pumps and cut producers to 10 to 12 inches per year (or 60 inches over five years) and let producers manage their way out of that, depending upon the crop.